"EXPLORING MEXICAN CUISINE: "Abuelita's Kitchen" began as a short cookbook based on my grandmother’s Mexicanfamily recipes; many are over 100 years old. The recipes and ingredients have been modified to be healthy and accessible to the modern American kitchen. Both of my cookbooks are available on Amazon.com, third cookbook to be released shortly, based on baking. I created this blog to describe/depict how to prepare mexican dishes, It has expanded into covering all types of hispanic dishes.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

While in NM this past month I have had the ability to experiment with dishes from not only NM but also those mexican dishes from other parts of the US. Now then we all know that there are different types of Mexican food. Here is a little breakdown on the Mexican Foods out west.

CALIFORNIA Mexican Foods

Let's take for example Mexican food of the West from California which has a spin on it. They specialize in citrus added to Mexican food with local fresh veggies. Think of the Baja style pepared Fish Tacos recipe below.

Dry fish, cut into 6 - 8 pieces. Dunk into the beer batter and allow to drain slightly before adding to heated oil. Do not over crowd the pan with fish. Cook for about 3 minutes or until golden brown and turn. Cook for 3 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Repeat until done.

Now then New Mexico and Arizona have a different view of Mexican foods. NM is known for their Hatch Chilies and the Southwest is known for the different types of Chilies grown by the universities and local Chile growers. That specific type of Mexican food is known as Southwestern Mexican. Enchiladas in other parts of the country are usually rolled, but in New Mexico it is not unusual to find them stacked. Also, there is the issue of Red Sauce, Green Sauce or Christmas. Green Sauce is Green Chile Sauce, while the red Sauce is that of the Chile Molido it is a rich red color. Finally, there is Christmas - when you cannot make up your mind you get both sauces - personally my favorite.

New Mexico is where the Green Chile Cheeseburger was brought to an art. Many say the OWL Cafe in San Antonio,NM serves the best Chile Cheeseburgers but my thinking is that the BUCKHORN Cafe in San Antonio, NM serves the best burgers for $6 and a bunless wonder of the same ingredients for $4 which is a deal. Just be sure to "Thank" Bobby Olguin when you are there - as he is usually there, the proprietor along with his wife and eager to trade jabs at you anytime -- when not filiming his NM foodie show. ( http://www.socorro-nm.com/buckhorn.htm) A damn great burger - just check it out for yourself!

Also, in El Paso, TX there is this small chain of restaurants which specialize in flautas in a thin red sauce. It is called "Chicos Tacos".

Here is the facsimile recipe:

Mock Chico's Tacos

Salsa
5 large Roma Tomatoes
3 - 4 jalapenos
water
salt and pepper

Remove stems, chop coarsely and add to a pot. Add rest of ingredients. Cook until peppers are soft. Add to a blender and puree all together. Set aside.

Add peppers to a saucepan. Add lime juice, vinegar and salt to taste. Add bay leaf. Cook until peppers are soft. Add water to make a cup of broth, put into the food processor and blend until liquid. Serve this first, ladle into a bowl.

Assemble

Oil
corn tortillas
shredded cheddar

Next you will fry the flautas. Dip the corn tortillas in oil, fry no more than 30 seconds and roll (use 1 1/2 tbsp of meat) and secure with a toothpick and fry till crispy or about 2 minutes. Add to sauce, top flautas with cheddar or shredded colby plus add some salsa. Enjoy!

Place cabbage in a large serving dish. Add the oil, vinegar, salt and pepper to a measuring cup and stir well. Add to the cabbage and toss well. Refrigerate.

TEX-MEX

Growing up in central Texas I was accustom to what is called TEX-MEX, that is spicy Mexican food which has a distinctive cheesiness about it. It is a US invention as in Mexico there is no such type of food such as TEX-MEX. I used to go to Tip Top Cafe in San Antonio which served the best handrolled Enchilada dinners, but there were also the Puffy Tacos - something well known in San Antonio and difficult to find elsewhere.

Break ground beef into chunks and add onion and garlic, fry until the meat is no longer pink. Drain meat of oil. Add the rest of the spices. I prefer to not use Cumin, if you must use it - add it now. Then add the rest of the ingredients. Cook for 20 - 30 minutes or until the potato is done.

For the PUFFY TACO - you must use fresh corn masa to make the puffy shell. Suggestion is to buy it in the store and pat out into a 5 inch circle OR use 1/3 of the bag's recipe to make corn tortillas on the Masa Harina bag available in the hispanic section of the store. Cook shells on each side for 30 seconds to 1 min at most or better yet cook it in 1 inch of oil for a really authentic look and taste. Remove from pan and drain on paper towels.

Assemble

Break top of puffy taco and fill with beef mixture. Top with Shredded lettuce and tomatoes, add cheese and serve with rice, beans and tortillas and lots of Salsa and Tortilla Chips!

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Yeah, you heard me right! The big difference between the regular old run of the mill Tex Mex salsa is the fact that the addition of artichokes makes this salsa little bit healthier. There is nothing wrong with that! Artichoke salsa is delicious, satisfying and brings the salsa up to a new level. Great as a snack on tortila chips, on an omlette, with shrimp. Simply heavenly!